


May The Odds

by orphan_account



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, Gen, Hunger Games-Typical Death/Violence, M/M, iridae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-08
Updated: 2013-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:33:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23026339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: He knows he’s supposed to wade straight into the bloodbath that’s no doubt about to ensue. He’s supposed to win and he’s supposed to take everything he can get from the Cornucopia. He’s supposed to want all of that, too, but Lu Han isn’t even tempted. He just wants to run.
Relationships: Kim Jongin | Kai/Oh Sehun
Kudos: 4





	May The Odds

  


  
When his name is called Lu Han goes numb. His blood freezes in his veins and his breath catches in his throat and he hopes against hope that he’s hallucinating.  
  
He isn’t.  
  
They call his name again and Lu Han is taken up to the stage, his own funeral march playing in his head with every step he takes. Every eye is on him, he knows, and that’s the only reason he forces himself to smile like he’s enjoying it, like there’s no ice cold fear clenching around his heart. _This is an honour_ , the voice in his head sounds suspiciously like his father, like his family, like every single person he’s ever met. _There are people who would kill to be where you are right now._  
  
‘ _Kill me then_.’ He almost says it out loud. Almost; he stops himself before he can, but he wishes he had said something because there’s a rough hand gripping his wrist and lifting it into the air, like he’s won some sort of competition, and the crowd erupts into applause below him.  
  
“Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce to you District 1’s male tribute for the 74th Hunger Games, _Lu Han_!”  
  


###

  
  
The days pass in a blur and Lu Han thinks he’s going to die. He’s a pretty face, that’s all, not a killer – anyone else in the whole of Panem would be a better tribute than he is, and he’s certain his mentor has figured that part out already. His mentor’s already given up on him.  
  
Lu Han stumbles through the training period feeling cold and so, so sick.  
  
_You should be ready for this_ , the voice is back – it never left. _You’re from District 1, you’ve been preparing for this moment your whole life. You should be ready, you should win. This is an_ honour.  
  
Lu Han doesn’t want it. He wants to go home. Back there they can brand him a coward, a weakling, he doesn’t care; he just wants to leave this place.  
  
But of course he can’t. He’s their tribute now. He’s trapped.  
  
The funeral march continues.  
  


###

  
  
Sixty seconds.  
  
The countdown starts and Lu Han is rooted to his circular metal platform, frozen like a statue. He knows if he steps off now he can escape; the landmines will kill him much more quickly and painlessly than any of the other tributes will, but he doesn’t move. He can’t – all he can think about is his family, his District watching him back home. He doesn’t want to disappoint them, doesn’t want them to think any less of him than they must do already.  
  
Even if he knows it’s useless, he can at least _try_ to survive.  
  
Thirty seconds.  
  
Lu Han takes in the sight of the huge golden Cornucopia and the various supplies strewn about it. The ground is flat and open, with sparse woodlands rising up behind him and Lu Han is certain he can hear the sound of running water somewhere nearby. He knows he’s supposed to go ahead and fight – he’s from District 1, he’s a career, he’s supposed to _win_ – but the woods are calling to him and the promise of shelter, no matter how small, is almost too good to resist.  
  
He knows he’s supposed to wade straight into the bloodbath that’s no doubt about to ensue. He’s supposed to win and he’s supposed to take everything he can get from the Cornucopia. He’s supposed to want all of that, too, but Lu Han isn’t even tempted. He just wants to run.  
  
Fifteen seconds.  
  
Lu Han’s gaze suddenly falls on a nearby tribute, a wide-eyed boy from District 9 who looks just as terrified as Lu Han feels. The boy is staring down at the ground before them, chest heaving and hands shaking, and Lu Han thinks for a moment that he’s about to step off of his platform, end his life while he can still make that decision.  
  
Five seconds.  
  
He’s going to step off. Lu Han can see the exact moment the boy makes his choice; sees the change in his big, round eyes, watches him suck in a deep breath to steady himself, watches him shift forwards as if to take a step and-  
  
The gong rings out. The game begins. The boy’s missed his chance – Lu Han has too – and Lu Han sees the horror cross the District 9 boy’s face before he turns to the trees around them and flees.  
  
Lu Han wants to follow him, but he’s supposed to stay and fight and suddenly he can’t move at all. All the other tributes have set off around him, some heading straight for a hiding place like the boy from District 9 did, but most of them have leapt straight for the Cornucopia. Some of them have died already and still Lu Han is frozen.  
  
He sees the two male tributes from Districts 11 and 12 nearby and thinks they must have struck up an allegiance before they even entered the arena because they’re fighting back-to-back, helping one another. They’ve killed a girl already.  
  
Lu Han turns his head and sees one of the tributes from District 7, a gangly boy with an infectious smile that he remembers from training, lunge for an axe nearby. The boy barely touches the weapon before the girl from Lu Han’s district, District 1, appears from nowhere, knife in hand, and strikes from behind. The boy chokes and tries to take a ragged breath around the dagger in his back, hand still reaching blindly for the axe his district is notoriously skilled with, before his eyes roll back in his head and he falls to the ground, unmoving. That’s when Lu Han turns to the woods and runs.  
  


###

  
  
The cannon fires nine times.  
  
That night Lu Han finds shelter by digging himself a sort of burrow in the undergrowth. The voice in his head reminds him how pathetic he must look – a tribute from District 1 has never before been so weak as to run from the bloodbath at the Cornucopia and then degrade himself so by sleeping in the dirt – but it shuts up when Lu Han reminds it that, right now, he just doesn’t care.  
  
Let the people of District 1 think what they want of him; he’ll probably be dead by morning, anyway.  
  
The anthem that precedes the death recap plays overhead and Lu Han shifts so he can see the sky through the trees above. He ticks them off on his fingers as each dead tribute’s photograph appears and names the ones he can remember. The first to appear is Joonmyun from District 2, and Lu Han is mildly surprised because he knows Joonmyun was a career. The next face is a girl from District 3, which must mean that both girls from Districts 1 and 2 have survived the first day at least. After seeing his fellow tribute shove a knife through a boy’s heart, though, Lu Han isn’t certain how happy he is about that.  
  
The next faces to appear are both tributes from District 5. Lu Han only knows the name of one of them – the boy, Kris – and he finds himself somewhat stunned again because he’d thought Kris would do well, maybe even win. He doesn’t have long to dwell on it before the next face appears. Another boy; Baekhyun from District 6. The boy from 7 who Lu Han saw die, and it takes a moment of thinking before Lu Han finally remembers that his name was Chanyeol. The next face marks the girl from 9 as dead, too, then both tributes (including a boy named Zitao) from District 10.  
  
That’s all of them. Nine people dead and gone just like that – music plays again as the official Capitol seal shines in the sky, then the arena is dark once more.  
  
Lu Han curls up tight into a ball, trying to stay as small and inconspicuous as possible. It’s a miracle he’s alive still, he knows, and there’s a part of him that’s almost angry at the relief flooding through his system. There’s no point giving the lord his thanks now; tomorrow the Games continue and Lu Han is still without food, water or weapons.  
  
How on earth is he going to survive?  
  


###

  
  
Lu Han is woken by the sound of a cannon. He lays frozen on the ground, disorientated and scared for a moment because in his dream he’d been back at home, until the cannon fires _again_ and Lu Han scrambles to his feet, the fear increasing tenfold.  
  
How long was he sleeping? Too long, obviously, since the other tributes have already started hunting.  
  
Lu Han is getting ready to run again, destroying all evidence of the burrow he dug for himself when he suddenly feels a sharp point digging into the back of his neck and his blood runs cold.  
  
“Any last words?” his killer asks, and Lu Han is somewhat impressed that they’re at least decent enough to offer him that.  
  
And, since he has the chance, Lu Han decides he’s not above begging for mercy. “Please.”  
  
He can almost hear the other tribute’s (it definitely sounds like a boy, and he can’t be too old either) frown. “…Please what?”  
  
“Just do it, Sehun, we don’t have time for this!” another boy’s voice snaps nearby and Lu Han flinches at his harsh tone.  
  
He takes a deep breath before asking again. “Please don’t kill me. Please.”  
  
“Don’t think about it, Sehun, that’s not the _point_ of these Games—just kill him!” the second boy urges but it seems Sehun, the one holding the knife (or is it a sword?) to Lu Han’s skin, isn’t very good at following orders.  
  
“Oh? Why shouldn’t we kill you?” Sehun asks, “If I let you go you’re probably just going to turn around and kill me anyway.”  
  
Lu Han shakes his head, still facing away from the boys because he’s scared that if he turns they’ll think he’s attacking and strike first. “I won’t- I-I can’t, I don’t have any weapons. I don’t even want to be here, I-”  
  
“He’s a _career_ , Sehun, he’s _lying_! _Kill him_ while you have the _chance_!”  
  
“For fuck’s sake, Jongin, just shut up for a minute will you?!” Sehun hisses back, and suddenly the weapon is taken away from Lu Han’s skin. Slowly, nervously, Lu Han turns to face them.  
  
It’s the boys from the Cornucopia, the District 11 and 12 pair that had teamed up before. The one stood closest to him must be Sehun, because he’s sheathing a glittering silver sword in his belt while his friend Jongin scowls over at them a little way away. Jongin has a bow and arrows strapped to his back, as well as his own nifty little belt with what looks like a dagger attached to it. Both boys have their own backpacks that are no doubt filled with food and water and everything else they’ll need to survive; Lu Han’s sort of surprised that they’ve already done so well.  
  
“If we let you go, what will you do?” Sehun asks, folding his arms over his chest as if he can’t quite decide what he wants to do with Lu Han yet. “Strike an allegiance with the other careers?”  
  
“No,” Lu Han shakes his head immediately, honestly, “I can’t, they’d probably just kill me. I… I’m probably the worst career you’ll ever have met.”  
  
Sehun furrows his brow, pursing his lips in thought. “So what will you do?”  
  
Lu Han thinks for a moment, eventually giving a noncommittal shrug. “Well I have no weapons or supplies and I don’t know how to get any of those things for myself, so… I guess I’d just wait to die.”  
  
“Then why do you want us to spare you?” Jongin demands.  
  
Lu Han actually chuckles a bit and shrugs again. “I don’t know – I guess you have a point. If you’re gonna do it, then, just please do it quick?”  
  
Sehun stares at him. His hand twitches towards the sword, and Lu Han closes his eyes, taking a deep breath in through his nose to calm himself before he dies. He’s thinking happy thoughts, imagining he’s back home, and has just managed to find his happy place when he hears Sehun take a step back.  
  
“Get up, you’re coming with us.”  
  
“ _What_?” Lu Han and Jongin ask at the same time, although Jongin sounds a hell of a lot angrier whereas Lu Han is just confused, eyes snapping open to stare up at Sehun.  
  
Sehun just shrugs down at him. “Strength in numbers.”  
  
Then he turns and walks away, strolling past Jongin who splutters before storming after him to no doubt shout some more. Lu Han blinks somewhat dumbly for a moment or two before he scrambles to his feet and follows his new allies.  
  


###

  
  
By nightfall, Lu Han is still with Sehun and Jongin. He considers that a miracle, and is almost certain it’s also the only reason he’s still alive.  
  
He’s almost constantly hungry, which seems to irritate the two boys from the outer districts immensely because Lu Han works his way through a good fifth of their food on his own and they haven’t yet touched any of it. They say it’s because Lu Han is from District 1, because he’s wealthy, that he doesn’t know how to be hungry like they do. Lu Han’s certain he detects bitterness in their tones, but he isn’t surprised by that because from what he’s heard of Districts 11 and 12 they’re lucky if they can find enough food for one person to make it through the day, let alone feeding a family.  
  
If Lu Han was in their shoes and came across someone like him – rich and well looked-after, eating fine cuisine from buffets and banquets every day – he’d probably want to kill them as well.  
  
That’s just one of many differences between Lu Han and the boys, though, and he can definitely feel the rift it causes between them. Although they’re perfectly nice to him (even Jongin, now he’s accepted that he’ll just have to get along with him because Lu Han isn’t going to be leaving them any time soon) Lu Han can tell that he’ll never really be able to _get them_ like they seem to get each other.  
  
They’re close, very close, and Lu Han feels like an intruder when he’s around them more often than not. They laugh at jokes Lu Han doesn’t understand and quietly hum songs Lu Han’s never heard of, and when they finally do stop to eat some food they sit close beside one another and share it. They’re best friends, it’s obvious, and Lu Han wonders if they’re aware that they’ll have no choice but to turn around and kill each other in a matter of days.  
  
The three of them settle down for the night (Sehun and Jongin both have blankets in their backpacks, and for a minute Lu Han’s afraid they’re going to leave him to sleep on nothing but the cold, hard ground until they start discussing who’s going to take first watch as lookout while the other two get some rest. Lu Han comments that having a lookout is a “really good idea!” and the boys stare at him like he’s stupid. On second thought, Lu Han thinks he probably is) and watch the faces of the dead appear in the sky above them in silence.  
  
Two tonight. A girl from 4 and a girl from 8, and Lu Han wonders how they died.  
  


###

  
  
All three of them are jerked awake the next morning by a scream and what sounds like a strong electric current zapping through the air nearby. There are suddenly people shouting and yelling close to their little resting place and the three boys rush to scurry away before whoever it is notices they’re there. The sounds of their running footsteps are masked by the group of however many tributes behind them and the firing of a cannon that marks the twelfth tribute dead.  
  
They run for what feels like miles, never stopping until they’re certain that they can’t hear the group and they still haven’t been discovered. Lu Han’s heart is pounding in his chest and he can’t quite get his breathing to even out right because of the nerves overrunning his system. He’s not even nervous, that’s not the right word; he’s terrified, because it was meant to be the lookout’s job to make sure they never came that close to danger and it had been Lu Han’s turn to keep watch that hour.  
  
And he had fallen asleep.  
  
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Jongin snarls, grabbing Lu Han’s shoulders and shoving him back against a tree. For once, Sehun doesn’t try and intervene, just watches them silently, his own chest heaving. “Are you trying to fucking _kill us_?!”  
  
“No! No, I’m- I’m sorry, I- I didn’t-” Lu Han gasps, and the sincerity must be in his eyes because Jongin just gives him another shove before letting go and storming off again, wrenching his arm away when Sehun tries to catch his wrist.  
  
Sehun heaves a sigh before unsheathing the sword at his belt and passing it to Lu Han. “I’ll go get him. You stay here, keep an eye out and don’t get into any more trouble, _please_.”  
  
Lu Han’s older than both Sehun and Jongin but he certainly doesn’t feel it right now. He feels young and dumb and weak and looks down at the sword wondering what kind of sick joke it is that _he_ , of all people, has been chosen to compete in the fucking Hunger Games.  
  
He can only imagine what they think of him back home.  
  


###

  
  
The cannon fires three more times that day and Lu Han knows only too well how those cannons would have meant the death of he, Sehun and Jongin if they’d been found that morning. He knows that it’s his fault, too, and it doesn’t look like the other two are going to let him forget it; Jongin refuses to speak to him all day, and when Sehun does the answers are short and cold.  
  
They don’t trust him any more.  
  
They watch the Capitol seal appear in the sky in a much colder silence than the night before and Lu Han mentally ticks the four tributes off as their faces appear. He can only name one of them, Yixing from District 4, who soon disappears to show the girls from District 6, 11 and 12.  
  
“Nine left,” Sehun murmurs as the music plays again and the evening show ends. “It’s getting close.”  
  
Jongin just gives a noncommittal grunt before getting to his feet and stretching under the light of the arena’s artificial moon. “I’ll take first watch.”  
  
“Alright,” Sehun gets under his blanket and settles down to sleep.  
  
Lu Han hesitates for a moment before asking; “Which shift shall I take?”  
  
Jongin looks at him then, face blank and voice like ice. “Just sleep.”  
  
Lu Han swallows down the sudden lump in his throat, then nods and does as he’s asked.  
  


###

  
  
Jongin and Sehun have sponsors.  
  
This surprises all of them, but no one more than the boys themselves who are practically skipping with glee when they receive the little packages. It’s nothing special, because they aren’t really in desperate need of anything yet, but it’s nice to know that someone is looking out for them. Jongin gets a box of berries Lu Han’s never seen before. Sehun gets a pin.  
  
It’s not much, not at all, but the boys can’t seem to stop grinning regardless.  
  
“Not bad for two scabby little outer district kids, eh?” Jongin asks, hooking an arm around Sehun’s neck and jostling him so he laughs. Lu Han watches them with a sad little smile on his face – he got nothing, of course, and he can’t really be upset about that because he knows he’s not worth rooting for anyway – and after a moment he catches Jongin’s eye. The District 12 boy regards him for a second or two, then heaves a sigh and offers Lu Han a tentative smile as well as a berry from the box. “Let’s start over, okay?”  
  
Lu Han smiles back, taking a berry in order to be polite and trying not to make a face at the taste. _Christ, they eat some disgusting stuff out there._ “I’d like that, thank you.”  
  
“Does this mean you two are going to stop making everything so tense and awkward around here?” Sehun asks, and they laugh even though it’s not really that funny, because they’re happy, and they haven’t been happy in a long time, and it feels really, really nice.  
  
And that’s when the forest bursts into flames.  
  
They start to run immediately, anything that wasn’t already in their hands abandoned to be consumed by the huge fire suddenly chasing them. This isn’t natural, Lu Han knows; it must be some cruel trick the Game Makers created to make things a little bit more interesting.  
  
No audience enjoys watching happiness, after all.  
  
Whatever show they wanted, though, they’re obviously getting it, since a cannon sounds once, _twice_ in the distance. This only prompts Sehun, Jongin and Lu Han to run ever faster, but the fire speeds up too.  
  
They hear the lake before they see it and none of them hesitate to throw themselves into the water in an attempt to escape the inferno that’s only a few steps behind them. It seems to work, since the huge wall of flames stops in a perfect straight line at the bank, but the boys don’t dare take any chances and continue to swim (with varying degrees of skill) across to the other side. Only then do they stop to catch their breath.  
  
“What,” Sehun pants, “the actual-” _pant_ “-fuck-” _pant_ “-was that?”  
  
Neither Lu Han nor Jongin answer. They don’t know.  
  
The three of them allow themselves the same amount of time it takes for the fires to mysteriously disappear – which is only a few seconds – to rest before they’re dragging themselves up again and trudging away, suddenly lacking all of their supplies except Sehun’s sword and Jongin’s bow, arrows and dagger.  
  
“A little help from our sponsors would be good around about now, huh?” Jongin jokes, sending a very obvious, theatrical wink to the sky.  
  
Jongin grins at the laugh Sehun lets out, and Lu Han is about to laugh too before his breath gets caught in his throat at the same time Sehun’s pealing giggle is cut sickeningly short. Lu Han stares at Sehun’s face, wide-eyed and pale from sudden shock, then lowers his gaze to stare at the spear that’s been thrust through Sehun’s stomach.  
  
The whole world seems to slow down and speed up all at once.  
  
Sehun’s legs buckle, he starts to fall backwards and Jongin rushes to catch him as the District 1 girl appears beside Lu Han, the same dagger she used to kill Chanyeol held high and ready to strike. Lu Han acts automatically, grabbing hold of her wrists when she tries to stab him and struggling for some way to protect himself because there could be others, she could have friends, they could be about to die any minute and he can’t-  
  
Suddenly Jongin’s there, taking out his own dagger and stabbing the girl with it over and over again, the boy screaming in pure, unrestrained agony as tears run scars down his face. Lu Han staggers backwards in shock and horror, and he can do nothing but stare as Jongin finally shoves the girl’s body away to bleed out on the ground.  
  
For a few moments it’s silent other than Jongin’s sobbing and Lu Han doesn’t dare look at anything else but his friend’s face. He doesn’t think he can handle the truth, refuses to believe that anything is real because this could not have happened, Sehun cannot be dead, they can’t-  
  
The cannon fires. It fires again.  
  
Jongin sinks to his knees beside the body of his best friend and sobs into his lifeless chest.  
  


###

  
  
They move as far away from the lake as they possibly can, hanging around to remove Sehun of his weapons and drink as much water as they can only because they have to in order to survive. They don’t speak at all aside from the bare necessities and sit close together for support and comfort when night falls and it’s time to look into the sky for the identities of those who died.  
  
The girl from District 1. The girl from District 7. Minseok from District 8, and Lu Han can hardly bear to keep watching for the final photograph. He’s never really been one for believing in heaven or the afterlife, but he hopes there is one ready to welcome his friend with open arms. He hopes there’s something more for this wasted life, and lets the tears fall as he gazes up at the face of District 11’s Oh Sehun for the very last time.  
  


###

  
  
There are only five left now, and Lu Han wonders why the Game Makers haven’t done something to force all the tributes together, spice things up a bit.  
  
“Maybe we’re nearby to them anyway,” Jongin says, “They’d rather wait for us to find them than shove us closer – builds up the suspense.”  
  
“I didn’t think our audience was a fan of suspense,” Lu Han mutters somewhat bitterly.  
  
Jongin just shrugs. “Maybe the main event is something really good.”  
  
Lu Han doesn’t reply again, just watches Jongin walk out of the corner of his eye. He’s not been the same since Sehun died; he’s quieter and more resigned, almost like he’s lost his fighting spirit. There’s a cynical part of Lu Han that finds Jongin’s behaviour ridiculous – he and Sehun only met for the first time a few days ago, after all, so no connection between them could have been _that_ strong – but on the other hand he understands how big and scary the arena is, understands what it’s like to truly believe you’re going to die at any second.  
  
A friend in this place is like a gift from God and Lu Han can’t blame Jongin for mourning.  
  
The sound of the cannon makes them stop. They’re like statues for a minute, scanning the woods around them and straining their ears for any sign of danger. There’s nothing, and the boys frown at each other in a silent question before continuing. The trees are growing thinner now and Lu Han thinks they must be getting closer to the Cornucopia, back to where this all started.  
  
_It’s almost over._  
  
Lu Han’s so busy with his thoughts he doesn’t notice the body on the ground until he’s caught his foot on it and goes tumbling over with a yelp. Jongin curses from behind him and Lu Han twists around to see what the hell’s happened, but he soon wishes he hadn’t.  
  
It’s the District 9 boy, the one with the big eyes and scared face who Lu Han saw at the Cornucopia the first time. He’s pale and lifeless, doe eyes staring glassy and blind up at the sky. There’s some sort of residue at the corner of his mouth, presumably from the berries he still has hold of in his right hand. Jongin takes one look at them and steps back.  
  
“Nightlock,” he says, voice coming out hoarse and Lu Han knows he’s shaken by this even after everything else they’ve seen. Lu Han doesn’t blame him, since he’s trying to get as far away from the body as he possibly can as well. “Se-Sehu—someone told me they’re poisonous.”  
  
Lu Han forces himself to swallow the bile rising in his throat and gets to his feet again, unable to tear his gaze away from the body. “You think he knew? This guy?”  
  
Jongin just shakes his head. “Maybe. I don’t know.”  
  
Lu Han looks up at the sky, suddenly frowning and scanning for something. “Wait- Jongin, how long ago did the cannon fire?”  
  
“A… A few minutes, maybe more?”  
  
“Then why haven’t they moved the body?” Lu Han looks back down at the boy and he’s definitely dead; there’s no kind of makeup or camouflage that can fake this kind of lifelessness. “We weren’t very close to here when the cannon fired, why is he still here?!”  
  
The realization suddenly dawns on Jongin and he reaches for his dagger slowly. “You think it’s a trap.”  
  
“If not it’s a great opportunity for-”  
  
“ _Lu Han_!”  
  
But before Lu Han can make a grab for his (once Sehun’s) sword someone’s got him, clutching at his clothes, his arms, his wrists and painting everything in crimson red. It’s blood.  
  
“Help me,” the tribute rasps, begs and Lu Han recognizes him from training. Jongdae from District 3, bright and witty and charming and _why the hell is he bleeding so much_?! “Help me, please help me-”  
  
“What is it?” Lu Han whispers, fear gripping him to the core. “What happened to you?”  
  
Jongdae’s legs buckle then and he falls, dragging Lu Han down with him. He’s trying to speak but he can’t form the words, just keeps coughing up blood and it’s only when he suddenly looks up and tenses like he wants to run away that Lu Han turns and sees what he’s so frightened of.  
  
It’s the girl from District 2, the career, and by the looks of it she’s gone rabid. Lu Han’s pretty sure his heart stops for a second when she lunges for Jongin and the two of them begin to fight – her to win and Jongin just to live – and Lu Han wants to get up, wants to go help, but Jongdae won’t let go of him still and Lu Han doesn’t know if he has the heart to leave this boy to die alone. (And he will die; soon, too, because he’s growing weaker by the second and he’s still bleeding and _oh God, what has she done to you?_ )  
  
The cannon fires for Jongdae at the same moment the District 2 girl leaps onto Lu Han’s back with a terrifying screech, knocking him to the ground where Lu Han twists desperately and tries to protect himself. He wants to know where Jongin is, what happened, but he can’t see him and the girl’s covered in blood already and Lu Han isn’t sure he wants to know whose it is.  
  
He doesn’t want to die like this.  
  
He doesn’t want to die at all but he can’t reach his sword without letting go of the girl and then who knows what she’ll-  
  
The girl suddenly gasps, whole body going tense, before she slowly falls limp and Lu Han shoves her away in horror. He can see now what killed her; Jongin’s stood before him with his bow and arrow at the ready, still aimed at the spot he hit her. There are cuts on his face and arms and he’s bleeding from more than one of them, but he’s still alive and Lu Han feels a relieved, breathy laugh bubble up his throat.  
  
“That’s the second time you’ve saved my life,” Lu Han says.  
  
Jongin doesn’t laugh. “That’s the second person I’ve killed.”  
  
He sounds absent, dead. He sounds like he’s given up on this game and is just waiting for it to be over and suddenly Lu Han understands. Jongin hasn’t lowered his bow; the new arrow is pointed straight at Lu Han’s heart.  
  
“And you’re going to make it three,” Lu Han murmurs. He’s not surprised or upset – he knows how these Games go. He knows one of them has to go.  
  
Jongin takes in a ragged breath and the arrow trembles slightly. “I want to go h- _home_ , Lu Han.”  
  
“I know,” Lu Han breathes, “I want you to go home, too, Jongin, I… Do it. Just do it, just kill me. I’ve done nothing in these Games – you’re the real victor.”  
  
He closes his eyes again, calms himself like he did when it was Sehun holding his life in his hands, and waits for the moment of impact. He wonders if it’ll hurt and decides it probably will; he flinches when he hears Jongin move, eyes opening again when he senses the bow and arrows being thrown down to the ground beside him.  
  
“Fight me,” Jongin orders hoarsely, hands shaking as he unsheathes his dagger and motions for Lu Han to get up.  
  
Lu Han does as he’s told, but his movements are slow and wary. “Jongin, you don’t have to do this… You can-”  
  
“They want a _show_!” Jongin screams this at the sky, at all the cameras and viewers that are hooked on their every move. “So we’ll give them a _show_ , Lu Han. Let them-” his breath hitches and Lu Han’s heart breaks a little, “-let them place their bets for the final showdown. District 1 and District 12 – what a delicious twist for the 74th annual Hunger Games!”  
  
Lu Han thinks he’s gone crazy, but he must be crazy too because he thinks Jongin’s making perfect sense. He straightens up fully and unsheathes the silver sword at his belt, holding out a hand for Jongin to take. “Good luck, my friend.”  
  
Jongin doesn’t take his hand, just lets out a laugh that he cuts short when it becomes a sob. He gives a flourishing bow, knuckles white where they’re clenched around the hilt of his dagger. “And may the odds be _ever_ in your favour.”  
  


###  
###

  
  
He fights. He wins. He leaves for home in pieces and arrives there in whatever shape the Capitol’s workers manage to glue him back into. He doesn’t talk to anyone, ignores the television crews and reporters who crowd him as he walks because _who would ever have expected someone like you to win the Hunger Games?_  
  
He doesn’t ask what they mean by that. He doesn’t care. He tries to sleep at night and sees their faces, all 23 other tributes and he wakes up screaming and shaking and sobbing. They say his win was an amazing feat, considering his final opponent, but he doesn’t see the glory in it.  
  
He’s a killer, not a hero.  
  
“ _Ladies and gentlemen, I give you; the victor of the 74th annual Hunger Games!_ ”  
  
  
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End file.
